Find Matisse, Picasso, and more at New Gallery of Modern Art

The Queen City’s New Gallery of Modern Art, part of the Levine Center for the Arts Complex located off of Tryon Street, is a local gem for casual enthusiasts, art lovers, and serious collectors alike. Charlotte’s art scene may not be as splashy or expansive as some of the other Eastern seaboard cities, but museums like the NGMA prove Charlotte is amassing a name for itself as a unique cultural destination.

NGMA currently holds a remarkable privately-held collection of works by artists that include Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol, and Henri Matisse. They also proudly feature beloved local artists like painter Maja Godlewska and sculptor Shaun Cassidy.

Museum Director Irina Toshkova has watched proudly and worked diligently over the past five years as the museum – and Charlotte’s art scene alongside it – has grown and commanded regional and national attention.

“The Levine complex of the Arts has been an incredible addition and I am so proud that the gallery is right in the middle of it all,” she says. “Also, it is phenomenal that the McColl center over the years has brought so many international artists who have shaken up the arts in Charlotte. And, in recent years, there have been some amazing gallery spaces that opened for business, like Laca and SOCO. That all makes me so excited and hopeful for Charlotte’s art scene.”

The New Gallery of Modern Art has high aims for its future, as it looks to educate patrons on modern art and its many different aesthetic, to assist in supporting various local endeavors, and to aid its clients in building their personal collections with the in-home consultations and corporate art program NGMA offers.

“Our vision is to simultaneously show compelling and provoking art that that really opens people’s eyes up to new materials and new ways of seeing,” Toshkova tells us. “Being an art dealer is a very weighted profession. You have to come at it with both your head and your heart.”

After living in the Queen City for more than ten years, Toshkova says she feels deeply connected to, and invested in, the local arts scene.

“As a gallery owner and dealer, I take this as a responsibility and challenge – my way of being able to leave a mark on the city.”